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I bought this car for Mrs. Racer 1.0 back in 1992 for $2,000. When we divorced she said she didn't want it, and demanded I pay her for it. I pointed out the car was bought with money out of my pocket, and the title was in my name, and I would not be giving her anything for the car, and that was that. I drove the car off and on until 1998, parking it because the oil consumption was excessive, and at the time I was trying to defend a championship in my race Z. So the car sat in the back corner of the shop, collecting dust. Fast forward to this past August. I'm at work, and my manager calls me, says I have to go home. Contact tracing had resulting in me being identified as being at risk to Covid19. Not wanting to waste a two week paid "vacation", I decided to clean up the shop a bit and see how the old Z was doing. I charged the battery overnight, and the car reluctantly came to life, 22 year old gas and all. Being all original, and numbers matching, I won't be making any changes that cannot be returned to the as new configuration. But in the interim I plan to replace the tired engine with one of the many others I have lying about, and rebuild the original as time and money allow. The car as I bought it in 1992 (alongside my race car): Double Datsuns by Racer, on Flickr Brown Z Red Z by Racer, on Flickr And after sitting in the corner of the shop after 22 years, dust, dirt, overspray (I painted a tractor and even though I had a makeshift spray booth, overspray went everywhere) and spider poop. 1972 Datsun 240Z by Racer, on Flickr 1972 Datsun 240Z by Racer, on Flickr 1972 Datsun 240Z by Racer, on Flickr Not easy to see through 22 years of dirt. 1972 Datsun 240Z by Racer, on Flickr I washed it. Notice the red haze of overspray. 1972 Datsun 240Z by Racer, on Flickr 1972 Datsun 240Z by Racer, on Flickr After the first pass around with rubbing compound and a buffer. 1972 Datsun 240Z by Racer, on Flickr 1972 Datsun 240Z by Racer, on Flickr And after about 20 passes around the car. I put some Panasport wheels on it that were on a 280Z parts car I had out back. 1972 Datsun 240Z by Racer, on Flickr 1972 Datsun 240Z by Racer, on Flickr And finally a coat of Zymol wax. Sunlight On The Z by Racer, on Flickr Sunlight On The Z by Racer, on Flickr Datsun 240Z by Racer, on Flickr Now for some mechanical work. I am going to change the car over to a manual tranny. These cars should never have had automatics. I also have new carpet, weatherstripping, and interior plastic panels to change out. Stay tuned. Racer

Great news, the rain cleared most of the smoke out. Kinda weird to see Portlanders celebrating rain though. It may be a once in a lifetime event.

I think (an admittedly tentative version of "believe") that the hatch glass is not a simple barrel curvature, so that if one were to draw a straight line on a piece of paper (as in the role used by FrostFighter), one could not get a "horizontal" transfer without warping the paper. Just a speculation...

Thunderstorms and rain last night. That should put the hurt on the fires and scrub some of the smoke from the air.

Well, I have been looking for a new project and everything is beyond my price, so I picked up this to work on for the winter. Not a S30, but it is a 70’s Japanese Machine with a Z in the model name.

So I went to visit a new customer today to talk about a restoration. Nice little 70, VIN around 2600 or something. He is having the all too common “body Shop hell” problem, and he’s moving from one to the other right now. The old shop partly painted the fenders and the interior, the underside, engine bay. All 918 orange. I went to see it today with him at the new body shop and have the “talk” with the proprietor. You know the one. Anyway.. Heres my problem. I walked into a bay with the door open, bright sunny day, And there was ANOTHER 918 Orange paint job that did not look right to me. It looks distinctly PEACH hued, not really the vibrant orange I’ve come to expect at all. here is an engine bay picture that has the best example of what my mind/eyes see. Peachy, right? Bleaccchhhh! I only have one other real original paint 918 orange on a 1973 in town and that thing is ORANGE. Nothing peachy about it. There is also another one, a 72 for sale on-line locally, with 918. The pictures look exactly Like the 73 I know, and it is ORANGE. Here is a screen grab from kijiji.ca So this dang 70 makes the third such 918 orange car that I’ve seen In the last 10 years with a fresh paint job that is this lousy peachy color that I say is wrong. One of them was painted in the US, the other two here in Alberta Recently. Now this car had repair and paint 20+ years ago, and the owner swears its the same color now, as he had the car painted back then, and he’s ok with it, but I’m trying to get this right. So all you people with 918 orange, would you call it peachy in any way?? Ever see one with the peachy hue and said “that ain’t right” Opinions?

"Shoes". The retainer will pop off with a thin screwdriver or a pick or needle nose pliers, I think. It kind of depends on what you can see when you peel the boot back. Take it a step at a time and see how far you get. You might be able to pull the shoe back enough to reposition the piston. Good luck.

Yeah I'm almost glad to see people driving 50mph on the freeway in the far left lane again. Brakes on uphill.

Pop the rubber boot off so that you can see the piston. It might just be cocked. The boot is just a dust seal, the cylinder would actually work without it. But it's obstructing your view for now. Open the bleed valve and manipulate the piston until it slides in like it should.

Very nice, and now it has actually gained considerable value!!

Those body side moldings were very common back in the day. Z seems to be very sensitive to different add ons based on the color of the car. Personally, I don't like the look of them on most cars. I have a 905 red car that I thought really needed them. So I put them on it. But they were adhesive type. No rivets. My wife and I both like the look but my younger sons don't. I have a 918 orange car that I wouldn't dream of putting them on. If it were me and I was going to send the car in for repaint, I would get those holes filled and install adhesive based moldings. Then the holes in the sheet metal are taken car of and if you ever change your mind and decide to remove them, it wont make you sick.

The Frost Fighter website says to us a razor blade, and that it will leave a shadow of the old lines. I would think using some cerium oxide and a felt glass buffing pad on a buffer should clean up any residual grid material, and leave a nicely polished glass surface. I've used the cerium oxide and felt buffer pad to clean light scratches from windshield wipers, and the scratches left on side windows from rolling up and down while rubbing against a dirty outer squeegee rubber.

He arrived on Monday and left on Wednesday. I had a chance to chat with him at the reveal of the Z Proto on Tuesday.

Thanks for your review of the parts from KFvintageJDM, it's very timely as I might need some of the parts they offer. Regarding your question, on viczcar, about the fit on the outside edge of the front seat rails, mine has about a pinky finger sized gap.

And, of course, those are Canadian dollars, so our American friends can get this done for 40% less!

This is my dream garage .... Complete with the triple decker of course ....

Haha - thanks! It wasn't always this way ... So I have a friend that is an aircraft enthusiast and retired mechanic. The aircraft crowd are super clean and organized relative to car guys. When I first got my space he stopped by and during the visit he just casually slipped in the following phrase: "They say a clean workspace invites you back ....". To this day I am not sure if I should be insulted or grateful ...but my workspace has never been tidier

It's finally time to move the jig ... lets see if the dolly plan worked .... custom lifting tool .... ...caster bolted up ... repeat ... easy peasy ....

A couple of folks have asked for plans for the jig. I’ve marked up a few pics with all the key dimensions. Feel free to post here or PM me with any questions.... Hope this this helps somebody ....

I run the 16x7 +0, big fan of the fitment, no rubbing .